The City of Round Rock will dedicate the Allen R. Baca Activity Center to the citizens of Round Rock with a ceremony to include members of the Baca Family, Mayor Nyle Maxwell, City Council representatives and city employees.

The Grand Opening Ceremony will feature a welcome by Mayor Nyle Maxwell, unveiling the Allen R. Baca Activity Center plaque, and recognizing the many citizens who helped make the new building possible. During tours, guests will watch current activity center members participate in the activities, from playing pool and exercising to line dancing, which fill the center every day.

The design team for the facility was a collaborative effort by architects Bo Spencer and Keith Rodebush of Spencer Godfrey Architects, Inc. with the Baca Activity Center Design Team, city staff and members of the senior citizen community.

“City staff collected input from the senior citizen community,” Parks and Recreation Director Rick Atkins said. “We went straight to our audience, residents age 50 and older, to be certain our building fit all of their needs.”

The Activity Center includes age-appropriate amenities: handrails down each hallway, a patio with guardrail, emergency buttons throughout the Center and parking garage, a First-Aid room, automatic entry doors, and a convenient underground parking garage with an elevator which opens directly into the Center.

The Baca Activity Center Design Team decided on a floor plan to include a cardio/weight room, computer lab, meeting spaces, banquet room, two kitchens, billiards room, TV/Game room and an arts and crafts room. In addition, the Senior Nutrition Program, sponsored through Williamson-Burnet County Opportunities Inc (WBCO), will offer nutritional lunches at a low cost for seniors. The City also used advice from the Senior Center Site Council consisting of seven elected members, who work year-round in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation Department to plan, set up, and attend events; fundraise; help solicit volunteers; and increase membership.

“Our space is more than tripling in size!” Center Supervisor Tanya Jackson said. “With the new building comes new programs and hopefully a lot of new faces. We want this building to be a welcoming place for everyone age 50 and up in Round Rock -- a place to escape, to make friends and to call home.”

New programs offered exclusively at the Baca Activity Center will include yoga, Pilates, painting, nutritional workshops, language classes, CPR, First Aid, chorus, acting and dinner theatre. Classes offered include 55 Alive Driver Safety Program, Computer Instruction, Book Club, Line Dancing, Tai Chi, Sittercize, Spanish, Arts and Crafts, Watercolor and Ceramics. Counseling and health programs include free benefits counseling through Area Agency on Aging, Grief and Loss Counseling through AARP, and free blood sugar and blood pressure checks. The Center will also serve as a meeting place for such clubs as the Garden Club, SALT, Travel and Day Trippers Club, AARP Chapter #4195, Pool and Billiards and Computer Club. Members also enjoy Bridge, Canasta, Pinochle, Woodcarvers, Dominoes and Bingo activities.

The facility is named for the late Allen R. Baca who led the “Think Tank,” a volunteer group of senior citizens who worked with the City of Round Rock to implement Round Rock’s first official Senior Activity Center. Baca was the one who originally suggested to the Mayor and City Council that the former bank building at 201. E. Main Street be transformed into the Round Rock Senior Activity Center. At a special City Council meeting, Mayor Mike Robinson and the Council arranged with Baca that if he and his Think Tank members could raise half of the cost, the city would match the other half of the funds. Through a series of fundraisers and donations, the Think Tank raised the needed $17,000 which, when combined with the City’s funds, led to the opening of the Round Rock Senior Activity Center on October 25, 1993.

“If only Allen could see the brand new activity center we’re moving into this Spring,” member Posey McClung said. “His name is a legend at the current Round Rock Senior Center. If it weren’t for the efforts of Allen and his original Think Tank, we wouldn’t have such an active and beautiful senior activity center.”

The Baca Activity Center is an entity of the City of Round Rock and under the direction of the Parks and Recreation Department. The Center is subsidized through the city and through the senior fundraising efforts. The Senior Center volunteers dedicate many hours selling cookbooks, calendars, candles, crafts, coverlets, nuts and daffodil bulbs. In addition, each year the Center hosts a pancake breakfast and attic sale benefiting senior programs.

The building would not be here if it weren’t for the efforts of many volunteers, workers and city staff who worked diligently on this project: Bo Spencer and Keith Rodebush of Spencer-Godfrey Architects, City of Round Rock City Manager Jim Nuse, Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer David Kautz, Parks and Recreation Director Rick Atkins, Activity Center Supervisor Tanya Jackson, Round Rock Project Manager Larry Madsen, retired Parks and Recreation Director Sharon Prete, Former City Manager Bob Bennett, Round Rock Senior Citizens Foundation, Baca Activity Center Design Team and Round Rock Site Council.

“We hope to grow beyond our current 800 members with this new facility,” Jackson said. “With one of the largest and newest centers in the area, Round Rock will be one of the best. Plus, as an added bonus, the facility will be a rental facility available for citizens and groups who want to reserve meeting space or hold a family get-together or reception.” It’s easy to become part of the group at the Allen R. Baca Activity Center. Membership includes a subscription to the Center’s quarterly newsletter, “Senior Moments,” which provides the active adult member the opportunity to see what programs the City has to offer.

For more information about the Allen Baca Activity Center, contact Tanya Jackson at 512-218-5499 or visit ci.Round-Rock.TX.US/Parks-Rec/SeniorCenter.html.

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Grand Opening ● Activity Center Photos ● Who is Allen Baca? ● Baca Family Photos   
 

Baca served over 4 years in the Army Air Force during World War II as a radio operator/gunner with the 487th Bomb Group. He completed 33 missions over Europe during the war and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

In 1945, he married Mary Dutton, and they settled in Corpus Christi, Texas. They had three daughters and two sons. Allen was the editor and publisher of the Corpus Christi Parish Post, the Nueces County Catholic Diocesan newspaper, for 14 years.

In his early 50’s, Baca received a degree in Criminology from Sam Houston State University. In the early 1970’s, he took a job in the Probation Department in Karnes City and several surrounding counties. In 1976, he accepted the opportunity to work for the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in Austin which launched a state career that would take him to retirement as he also worked in the Department of Community Affairs for the Texas Department on Aging.

With the influence from his job at the Texas Department on Aging, Baca implemented many new programs to help senior citizens and senior centers. Baca realized the need for persons on probation to get their education. Baca began volunteering with the Bell County Jail GED Program which led to Baca forming a GED program for seniors while working with the Texas Department on Aging. His program went into nearly 100 senior centers, and as a result of the literacy program, several senior centers participated in the first senior spelling bee, an event still hosted at the Round Rock Activity Center today.

Baca moved his family to Round Rock in October of 1976 and lived here for 26 years. “Round Rock was his hometown,” Eileen Clary (Baca’s daughter) said. “He delighted in the fast paced growth of the city. When we visited, he would insist that he show us the new construction of shopping centers, factories, and housing developments that were popping up in Round Rock. He enjoyed being a part of the city’s growth, and served for several years on the Planning and Zoning commission.”

Baca was one of several Round Rock senior citizens who recognized the need for a Senior Activity Center in the City of Round Rock. With no official building or activity center, a group of Round Rock senior citizens were meeting in a small cottage building owned by the Williamson-Burnet County Opportunities Inc. (WBCO) which provides a nutrition program to senior citizens.

In 1990, Baca gathered his peers and led the Round Rock Senior “Think Tank,” a volunteer group which worked with the City of Round Rock to implement Round Rock’s first official City Senior Activity Center. Baca proposed that the former bank building at 201. E. Main Street be transformed into the Round Rock Senior Activity Center.

The cost to refurbish the bank building was $34,000. At a special City Council meeting, Mayor Mike Robinson and the Council arranged with Baca that if he and his Think Tank members could raise half of the cost, the city would match the other half of the funds.

Luckily, back when Baca worked for the Department of Community Affairs, he developed “Project Bootstrap” which gave information on fundraising and foundations. So in February of 1992, with Baca’s experience in foundation work and knowledge, the Think Tank filed Articles of Incorporation with the State of Texas and qualified for 501(c)(3) non-profit status to form the Round Rock Senior Citizens Foundation, still an integral part of fundraising and planning for senior programs. Through a series of fundraisers and hard work, the Think Tank raised the needed $17,000 which led to the opening of the Round Rock Senior Activity Center on October 25, 1993.

Besides timelessly working to promote senior activities in Round Rock, Baca had many hobbies. His son, Tom Baca said he always had a special place in his heart for planting and pruning, specifically rose bushes, of which he had over 30 different varieties, at one time. Baca was a member of the Austin Rose Society.

“Dad was constantly pruning, feeding and caring for roses in some way, and he really enjoyed cutting fresh roses. I remember one year dad entered a rose contest and he meticulously pruned and primped this one rose relying on it to open just in time for the show…Well if you knew my dad, ‘perfect timing’ was not something he could rely on! Needless to say his ‘show winner’ was nowhere near ready to be displayed at the time of the show, but that didn’t stop him! He went with his second choice and put together a display that got a lot of recognition,” Tom said.

Baca’s love of planting influenced the first annual Daffodil Bulb Sale for the senior center in efforts to increase the beautification of Round Rock. Several members and volunteer groups served as gardeners to plant the bulbs throughout the community. The tradition continues with the sale of hundreds of bulbs annually as a fundraiser for the Round Rock Senior Center and the planting of bulbs annually along the city’s flower beds by Parks and Recreation staff.

In addition, the Round Rock Senior Citizens Foundation hosts the Daffodil Festival each spring at the Round Rock Senior Activity Center in conjunction with the Daffodil bulb sale to celebrate the Daffodil tradition. This upcoming event, which will take place on Saturday April 1, celebrates spring with live music, arts and crafts vendors, a raffle and various performance groups and entertainment.  Visit  www.RRDaffodilCapitalTX.US.

In May 2003, Round Rock Senior Citizens Foundation members increased the impact of the Daffodil sale, by leading the efforts for the City of Round Rock to be officially recognized as “The Daffodil Capital of Texas” by the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas.

Baca’s legacy is state-wide. Baca started Grandparent’s Day in Texas. He convinced former Governor Mark White to declare a special day in honor of mature residents who make Texas what it is today. In 2002, Baca volunteered his time and worked on House Bill 514 to help the Tiguas and two other tribes have gaming operations on existing reservations.

Baca was recognized by the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce for his community service as the 1994 Round Rock Senior Citizen of the Year. In 2001, Baca was awarded the Local Legend Award from The Historic Preservation Commission of the City of Round Rock, an award which recognizes Round Rock citizens who have had a positive and lasting impact on the culture, development, and history of our community and who exemplify the very essence of Round Rock. In addition, Baca received the National Daily Points of Light Award given by The Points of Light Foundation and the Volunteer Center National Network, in partnership with the Knights of Columbus and the Corporation for National Service. It is designed to honor individuals and organizations that have made a commitment to connect Americans through service to help meet critical need in their communities and in the nation.

Baca died on November 5, 2002, at the age of 81. He is being recognized in Spring 2006 with the opening of the Allen R. Baca Activity Center to honor all the accomplishments of his life and the work he did for the Round Rock Senior Citizen community.

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Grand Opening ● Activity Center Photos ● Who is Allen Baca? ● Baca Family Photos